Stunned by beauty
by Joey the Freaking Potterhead
Summary: This year was looking very dull for Harry, he spent most of his time missing Ron and Hermione, asking himself whether it would get better or not. With Easter approaching things seemed grim. It was only when he met Juliet that his question was answered.
1. A shy beginning

Harry's spirits had been down all year, he had not heard a word from Hermione or Ron; he constantly wondered how the two, now married with two kids were going.

He missed them a lot. If he was going to hear anything from them, it had better be soon; Easter was approaching and he couldn't bear to spend the holiday without his

two best friends. He sighed as he picked up his broom maintenance kit after almost destroying his Firebolt the previous night after deciding to go for a fly after drinking

a little too much... or a lot of Firewhiskey, the previous night just to see if he would get his name in the Dailey Prophet after casually chilling in a gutter, with his

broomstick thinking about what the headline would say, 'perhaps it would be:

"**Has Potter- the boy who lived, become a bum?"**

Or something of the sort' He thought; though deep down he knew this wouldn't happen,(which confirmed right) since he wasn't known by muggles that he was aware

of, nor would they even recognise him if they did; a drunk eighteen year old with a mangy looking broomstick- any hero would look like this; not. Realizing his chances

of being recognised, he'd mounted his broom and wonkily flew home, near-missing a few trees, a bird and some powerlines along the way. Now here he was, kneeling

over his broom on the living room floor, laughing about the previous night as he recalled his flight home. He felt rather pleased with himself, to say at the least; even he

felt the need to be dangerous at times. Half an hour seemed to last for an hour as he was just finishing the final touch of his broom, which now looked practically new,

besides the minor bends in some twigs he hadn't finished fixing yet, when he heard someone walk up to him from behind him.

"Hello Harry." said a sweet voice.

Harry jerked his head beside him, what he could see of her long white flowing dress revealed to him who it was instantly. "Oh, hey Juliet." He said coolly, as he stood to

his feet to give her a proper greeting. "How are you?" he added, hoping he didn't seem rude, hoping at the same time she would forgive him for his formalness, she

was one of his friends he had only just met the night before, she was two years younger than him; not from Hogwarts but a different magical school (he could not

remember where she said; he got drunk just after he met her.) and beautiful; really beautiful.

"I'm good I guess... just bored... and feeling lonely." She said casually.

A smile formed on Harry's face, he tried hard to refrain himself from grinning. He sat on a bench near him, kicking his legs freely. "Well I'm here." He grinned, looking

over at his broom, then back at her knowing full well one couldn't be bored when he was around. "I'm not bored, not really lonely either now I'm talking to you." He said

with a wink.

Juliet smiled, her straight black hair had grown a fair bit from the last he had seen her, it was a little longer than shoulder-length before but now it had grown down to

her waist. Harry couldn't help but gaze up into her eyes, which were definitely a lot brighter and greener than they had been, plus she seemed happier. He couldn't

help but smile at this, glad to see she had felt better than she had, though he hadn't really took much time to ask her exactly what had been wrong when she did look

upset. She caught his stare and smiled, "so what's up?" she asked.

Harry's mind snapped back to reality, he looked at her, 'blimey... she's...' but his mind couldn't find words to describe her. He just hoped he hadn't said any of this out

loud; thankfully he hadn't. He smiled back to her, raking his fingers through his hair, his mind racing on what to talk about next, his mind couldn't think of anything, so

he conjured some Butterbeer out of nowhere. "Would you like one?" he asked. "I must add... you look a lot better than you did last night" he slipped. He felt himself

flush and quickly added, "oh nothing much at the moment; just talking to you and conjuring Butterbeer." He grinned as he took a sip, feeling odd to be drinking in front

of her. He finished his glass and waved his wand, sending the other bottle to the fridge. "What have you been up to?" he asked, unable to think of anything. He felt

stupid right now. Especially after his last failed attempt at flirting with a complete bitch, who continued to tease him in ways he found inappropriate, especially when he

couldn't do anything about; now he was talking to someone who was amazing; he couldn't stop his mind from blanking out due to her beauty.

Juliet looked at the Butterbeer and shook her head slightly, "I'm fine, thanks." She paused for a moment, apparently like him, she couldn't think of much to say either-

before she said, "Oh nothing much... just... taking care of some business." She looked down at herself and seemed to find the glass cabinet showing her reflection,

interesting. Harry picked up the vibe that she felt insecure about how she looked; he remembered his compliment to her. He felt his face grow hot. "Really?" she asked,

surprised. "I just feel hideous, that's all." She sounded as though her sadness had grown a little.

Harry didn't know how to react. She was beautiful; yet she felt she was hideous? How could she? "Any time..." he said quickly, remembering her words; he was never

one to interrupt a conversation until the other was finished which usually left him struggling to remember the words said; at least this would show her he's a good

listener.

"Oh, yeah? Sorry... but what sort of business would that be?" he said trying to hide his cheeky tone by frowning slightly, before adding, "You're not hideous at all

really... you're beautiful" He said hoping this would ease the sudden tension that had built up. He leaned his back against the wall, still sitting on his bench, as she sat

beside him.

Juliet gave him a look that told him, he had gone too far; he'd asked her a question she didn't want to answer. A sickness formed in the pit of his stomach- one only

dread could cause. The last thing he wanted was for him to bring something bad up, like a memory or something. She smiled a little, "no it's personal stuff. I really

shouldn't talk about it." She paused and gaped at him, "you really think I'm beautiful, huh?"

Harry felt the tension rise; his unease was almost turning him restless. "Oh... no it's fine, really... I understand." He said quickly as he smiled reassuringly. "I know

you're beautiful." He smiled and winked.

She thanked him with a smile, Harry was hoping he wasn't boring her when she asked him what he wanted to do; the questions had bought many thoughts to his

mind; thoughts he shouldn't even really be thinking but he couldn't help himself; she was beautiful. He snapped his mind again back to reality and sat up, hoping he

didn't show any sign of thinking dirty about what he wanted to do. He wasn't himself around her; he didn't want to come across perverted but he did want her. He

simply smiled. "No idea... what do you want to do?" He really had to hold himself off from winking or giving any sign his mind was telling him certain things. It didn't help

when she said she didn't care and he could choose what they did; Harry was in a cheeky mood and didn't want to show it- he wouldn't have done the things coming to

his mind but he would have been cheeky to her, which he didn't want to be out of respect for her.

"I usually just sing." She finally said. "I don't want to bore you so you can pick." She quickly said; there was more colour in her face now.

Harry smiled, "you couldn't bore me if you tried!" he grinned.

"I wouldn't be so sure. I sound pretty bad."

Harry felt his heart ache for her; it was almost making him angry about how she saw herself. "I don't care honestly..." he said suddenly then smiled, hoping he didn't

sound as agitated as he was. "Go on, you're probably better than you think."

Juliet seemed to hesitate but he insisted, she slowly closed her eyes, blushing as she begun to sing a song she had written herself; her voice was nothing that Harry

had ever heard before, she sang it perfectly; she hadn't hit a wrong note and every one she hit was in perfect tune, she sounded as beautiful as she looked. Harry's

heart skipped beats; he sat there next to her, motionless, his breath seemed to have stopped- he swore he was dead. There was nothing he had heard that had

been... so beautiful. He couldn't stop himself from telling himself this. He came to his senses when he heard her speak after what seemed hours of being lost in her

song.

"Yeah... horrible." She sighed.

Harry couldn't help himself, he was no longer angry at her about her self-doubt, rather hurt that she couldn't see what he saw; he found himself still unable to speak,

gazing at her as though she had just stunned him with a stun gun rather than her singing. "That was wonderful... really." He finally said, his voice sounding as

breathless as he felt.

She blushed. "Really...?"

Harry again smiled reassuringly "Really."

"Thanks" she smiled, Harry noticed her blush a deeper shade of red.

She started to play with her hair, Harry noticed she seemed shy all of a sudden; she always was

but this was different... she'd never been this shy with him; even when they first met. Harry looked at her, then back down at his feet as though he had found his

plain, black shoelaces suddenly interesting, as if they had magicked themselves into something utterly fascinating- like a miniature three headed dog or something.

Realizing his sudden interest in his shoelaces, he wondered how long he was staring at them for; slowly he raised his head to look at her, ruffling his already scraggly

hair up. The two were sitting next to each other, why was it so difficult to look at one another? She had turned her head away from him, Harry felt the need to stand

up, thinking deep down if he stretched in front of her she would see and be rather impressed with his muscular body. He slid off the bench and stretched his arms; each

muscle showing through his skin, he was nothing too buff but had perfect muscle tone. She still hadn't found nerve to look at him, but had rather taken to twirling a

piece of her long black hair through her fingers. Harry slid himself back on the bench, sitting beside her again. He was tempted to lean back against the wall again but

couldn't bring himself to move. He seemed to have been staring at Juliet, who was now braiding her hair absent-mindedly; Harry just hoped it wasn't obvious he was

watching her, it didn't help he was still feeling somewhat breathless just by watching her play with her hair the way she was, feeling part jealous that she was playing

with it and not him. She finished braiding her hair and continued to look away from him; he had never seen her look so embarrassed before; if only he knew what to

say to her.


	2. Falling roses

After what seemed like an hour of avoiding each other's gaze after shyly looking away from each other, Harry knew he had to act. He grinned at Juliet, who was still sitting

next to him, apparently deep in thought of a conversation starter- the two had no idea what to say to each other; Harry's feelings towards her, he was sure had grown to

more than friendship; he was also sure she felt the same, however he wasn't prepared to take the risk in case he got rejected or just used like he was just a few hours

before. Juliet returned the grin, blushed deeply and looked away again. Harry couldn't help but to grin again at this, wondering over what to do, he slid off the bench the

two were sitting on, pulled a yo-yo, a muggle contraption apparently used to help one think or look cool from what he had learnt from Dudley, he walked across the room

and leant against a wall coolly, his legs crossed over using his back to support him as he slipped his fingers through the loop he had made in the yo-yo string, casually

bouncing it up and down, deeply thinking of words to say to Juliet, at the same time, trying to impressing her with his coolness; he knew he was awesome but this was a

situation where he _had _to show it off. He looked up at Juliet who was now watching him, apparently still lost for words. Harry continued bouncing the yo-yo up and down,

finally something hit him. It wasn't much of a conversation but it would break the silence between them. He caught the yo-yo and wound up the yo-yo, slipping his finger

out of the loop. He held it in the palm of his hand towards Juliet.

"This is a yo-yo." He said coolly. "It's a muggle toy, not sure exactly of the purpose but it helps me to think. My cousin, Dudley gave it to me before I had to leave the

Dursley's, just before I left Hogwarts." He smiled, feeling as though he had just made the most important speech in his life-time; was it enough to impress or had he

completely killed their moment? He paused for a second and added, "I honestly don't know what else to say; I'm lost for words." He felt his face flush again.

To his surprised Juliet smiled shyly, yet seemed somewhat impressed. "That's cool. I grew up in the muggle world and now I'm a sixth year." She smiled again, "Me too."

She said and let out a slight laugh, as Harry picked up through her nerves.

Harry gave a bit of laugh, "Brilliant! I grew up in the muggle world also... just as a reminder; you already know this; who doesn't?" he grinned brightly.

His grin soon faded however as Juliet looked suddenly saddened again, he walked back to the bench and sat back down next to her, he looked at her wondering whether

he should ask her what was up, apparently though she read his mind, she gazed into his eyes, "Well, I grew up being abused by my father, after he killed my mother and

a whole army. I ran away when I was seven, and I was in a coma til I was 11." Harry remained silent as she continued, "I ran away from home when I was seven and

was in a coma until I was eleven." She said; her voice slow and sad. Harry still didn't dare to ask questions; it was heavy enough without knowing how all this happened.

Juliet sighed. "I would go on, but it would take too long to explain everything." She added.

Harry frowned once she had finished, he couldn't take it in- questions filled his mind but he didn't want to ask; it almost scared him how much alike they were; how much

he understood, he had been abused by his uncle, he couldn't imagine what it would be like for one to be abused by their own father after they'd killed one's mother but

here he was talking to someone who had seen it all. His voice caught in his throat, he wanted to speak straight away from nothing wanted to come out. He swallowed

hard, deeply saddened upon hearing what he had just heard. "I'm sorry to hear that..." he said with a weak smile, "but I'm glad you're still here though. Really." He

paused again, his voice quietened as though someone had found his volume switch, "I can't imagine how it must feel."

Juliet shrugged, Harry could see she was hiding her feelings, "It's fine... and eh, sometimes I feel like I shouldn't be here; I wonder what would happen if I wasn't." She

sighed.

Harry felt himself choke up- he knew that feeling all too well, until he found out he was a wizard, was accepted into Hogwarts and discovered he was the chosen one. He

looked at Juliet and smiled weakly, "I know you're meant to be here... otherwise you wouldn't be here." He smiled warmly.

"You really think so?"

Harry looked at her, "no..."

"Oh." She looked away and sighed.

"I know it." He grinned.

She sighed and shook her head, Harry stood up; to his surprise she did too. She looked up at him. "I hate how I'm a few inches shorter than you." She laughed. "I'm so

short!"

Harry sniggered as he looked down at her, "I'm not _that _tall, even Ron's taller than me." He chuckled.

Juliet laughed at this, "I'm shorter than most people though."

Harry grinned. "_I'm _not most people."

Juliet shrugged, "no. I guess not." She said, as she shot him a grin, then sighed and took a few steps back, smiling at Harry, as she spun around in circles. Harry

wondered what she was doing, he continued to watch her curiously when he saw it; the sight amazed him, he was once again lost for speech. Roses had suddenly

started to grow on his living room floor, their petals swirling around in the air around Juliet, her silky black hair flowing behind her. She grinned at Harry. "Roses are my

favourite flower."

"I can handle that." He smiled as he took a handful of roses from the floor. He looked at her, wondering if she would think he were destroying them, which he was hoping

for; just for a bit of a reaction, he plucked the petals off them one by one , keeping the plucked petals in the palm of his hand, as Juliet continued to spin, her hands raised

higher in the air, she looked so graceful, so elegant as she concentrated and as Harry suspected, she hadn't noticed Harry pluck the petals, which he realized he had

frozen watching the graceful sight in front of him. Harry's had once again lost his breath as he closed his hand around the rose petals he had just plucked, when he

opened it again, he found himself holding a big red rose, he would have appreciated what he had just done if he wasn't so stunned by the sight in front of him. She

continued for a moment before stopping. Harry was still completely stunned; it took him a moment to realize she had stopped spinning and dropped everything.


	3. A true heart revealed

Harry was so confused right at this point; Juliet had gone from spinning in circles, rose petals floating around her, to completely frozen on the spot; Harry couldn't work out

what had happened, it only occurred to him after he came to his senses completely that something was wrong; Juliet looked at him, then to somewhere in the distance.

Without warning she grabbed Harry's arm, "come with me." She said, as she walked rather quickly, however remained calm at the same time.

The two walked through Harry's front door and out into the city part of Godric's Hollow; Harry taking long strides to keep up, even though Juliet still had his arm held firm.

Harry couldn't work out where they were going; he was used to this sort of thing though from his previous years with Dumbledore; he'd learnt to just go with it, without

question. Juliet came to a halt and Harry saw why she'd dragged him to the city; a little girl was crying; Harry couldn't understand how she'd picked this up from his house

but he didn't question it; he was more focused on why the little girl was actually crying; she would have been no more than four; where was her mother? Without

hesitation, Juliet ran up to the kid and knelt down to the ground, she put her hand on the child's shoulder. "Are you lost?" she asked; her voice calm.

Harry's heart gave a lurch; it felt as though it had gone to his throat. Was she really this sweet or was there something he was looking past? He had never met someone

with such a heart where they could sense something was wrong from a mile away, besides himself and that was only through dreams where he saw Arthur Weasley

injured the year before. "She's perfect" he whispered to himself. Harry saw another woman just across the road from where Juliet and the little girl were, apparently the

little girl had been too scared to cross the road and her mother was waiting for her on the other side. Without a second though Juliet picked the child up and casually

walked between the cars, as though they were parked in the middle of the road; fear groped Harry as he realized the danger of this; he hoped to himself she wouldn't

misjudge a car's speed and get hit during this mission to bring the girl back, Harry watched amazed as Juliet handed the girl back to her mum. He felt sort of awkward

standing on the other side of the street alone; he followed Juliet's path, near-missing a car here and there as he crossed; his heart pounded through his chest even when

he had safely made it to the other side. He greeted Juliet, unable to speak a single word.

Juliet turned to Harry and frowned, "I'm so sorry about that... I just... I heard the little girl crying and..." Harry couldn't pick up any other words as she continued to babble

on.

He grinned to himself and placed his index finger over her lips, and smirked in success to himself as Juliet fell silent. "It's okay, really. I thought it was really sweet; I would

have done the same only..." he looked at her and stopped mid-sentence. He could say no more as he caught her gaze. "She's so distracting." He whispered under his

breath, hoping she wouldn't hear him; his cover was blown for sure though as he chuckled to himself. Juliet, apparently had heard what he'd said, either that or she

thought he was chuckling at her as she blushed and looked down at her feet. Harry couldn't help but grin at her, which apparently made Juliet's hands interesting as she

studied her hands. Harry couldn't help himself, in one quick reaction he took hold of her hands and gazed into her eyes, "you're truly beautiful, you know? From what I

see, completely flawless also." He smiled sheepishly, he couldn't believe he had just done or said that. This of course led to another speechless session.

Juliet gazed at him as she opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. She blushed deeply, looked at her feet and back to Harry. "I don't know what to say..." she

said, in almost a whisper.

"Catching flies?" Harry sniggered, cheekily as he watched her mouth open and close, he looked at her, "How about a drink? It might help you find the words you're looking

for." He grinned.

Juliet smiled, "s-sure." She stuttered.

A bright smile formed across Harry's face, he took her arm and disapparated the two, to a quiet park, not with the most romantic of scenery but even he had to admit, it

was beautiful. The two sat down on the grass. Harry conjured some Butterbeer out of nowhere and handed her a bottle.

Juliet looked around, rather impressed by the bright green grass, the duck pond in front of them and some foggy mountains in the distance surround by various types of

trees, some with different coloured flowers blossoming from them. "Everything's so beautiful here." She said softly.

Harry smiled weakly; a sudden sadness had set deep into his heart. "Yeah I know... which is why I bought you here. Apparently mum and I would go here when I was a

baby." He smiled sadly and passed Juliet a Butterbeer.

Juliet took the Butterbeer and hugged him, "I'm sorry..." she said, Harry could tell she was feeling his sadness; something she didn't want him to feel because it was a

special place to him and he had never taken anyone here before, other than himself to talk to his mum in private.

Harry held Juliet tightly and smiled weakly, "no... No reason to feel my sadness." He said suddenly. "It's just a special place to me and I wanted you to see it... I've never

taken anyone here before."


End file.
